Aidelia nearly glared at the silver haired man. She had no time for this. As there were people around where they were now, Aidelia took Felix's hand and pulled him into an empty, undamaged room, closing the door behind him. "Do you understand what you've done?" she hissed, turning to look at him with an angry gleam in her eye. "The severity of this situation? I was already being placed under the microscope, if you'd wanted to prove you were on my side, you would've done the exact opposite of what you'd so ignorantly done. An attack on the Kage's life, and you blame it on the Sand!" she said angrily, her eyes narrowed. Usually Aidelia was calm and collected, but she was starting to get very sick of this blue eyed menace. "I never cared whether you had it in you or not! If you wanted to go home, all you had to do was throw another ninja under the bus. This is not your battle to fight."

As Aidelia spoke, Felix ever so rudely, yet calmly wiped his hand off on his shirt. What in God's name had possessed her to touch his flesh? She could have grabbed his arm or told him to follow her. Anything but touch him! When she started hissing at him, Felix just listened. "Sorry, I don't think I've retained all of my sanity," he said as he finished cleaning his hand. "It wasn't my intent on making this any harder for you." Felix shook his head. "And I am not the one who blamed it on the sand, Kana did. You remember the girl who's mind you tried destroying. Yeah, she doesn't exactly like you." Felix gave a shrug. "And I'm in wayyy too much trouble to be throwing ninja under the bus." He gave a tiny grin. "But as I stated, I'm not exactly 'all here' so the who thing was a spur of the moment. My apologies, how can I make it up to you?"

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Aidelia's gaze on Felix turned into a glare as he wiped his hand on his shirt. She was trying to stay calm, but this man was infuriating. "Ah, her," she spoke with distaste as Felix mentioned Kana. She raised an eyebrow when the silver haired ninja asked what he could do to make it up to her. "What can you do?" She gave a small scoff. "You can get rid of your partner. She's in my way. And if your intent is to return home, she's in yours too," she said calmly. "Otherwise there's nothing you can do to 'make it up to me'," she said, nearly mockingly before walking out of the room. "Good day Mr. Kuriyama," she spoke coldly as she walked off.

Felix couldn't help but find it a bit funny how mad she was getting about the entire situation. When she said he could get rid of Kana, he hurried in front of her. "Um, Miss or is it Mrs, Aidelia. You don't exactly seem like one to marry," he stated rather rudely. "I don't think anyone could handle you..." He looked off to the side. "That was rude, sorry. Anyway, I've tried that. She isn't exactly ready to just roll over and die." Felix stated as he started walking backwards in case she tried to push past him. "Any other request?"

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Aidelia stopped in her tracks when Felix mentioned how she didn't seem like one to marry. Her face went blank before it darkened, her eyes narrowed at Felix. "What was that?" The rest of what he said kind of just passed through her ears after his little statement. Her hand ended up clenched around the folder that she had held under her arm.

Felix nearly tripped when he saw the look on her face. "I-I...er...I said that you're a lovely lady and that if you'd stop being so bent on taking over, all the guys here would be so attracted to you. Especially the silver hair. It seems to get me everywhere," Felix said lightly. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure he wouldn't completely die. After all, she looked like she was going to punch him, and Felix didn't not want to fight her. He still wasn't sure if he could use chakra. He should honestly get on top of checking that out.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

(He can always ask Kana about it...)(And lmfao, I don't care how many times I have to say it, it's hilarious that Aidelia got him to stutter like that. XD )

Aidelia glared at Felix through narrowed lavender eyes. It looked like he'd hit a bit of a soft spot. "Don't screw with me," she hissed. "I know exactly what you said, and to be honest, you," she said, poking him in the chest with her free hand. "Don't exactly seem like the type to be in a relationship either, and yet I'm aware that you have a girlfriend, right? You should go home to her and leave me to my work. It'd be a shame if something happened over in the Crested and you weren't there to protect her. Give up that ANBU Captain, if you must, he's from the Sand anyways. The Kage'd be getting his spy, and you'd go home to your girl. Just stay, the hell, out of my way," she said angrily, pushing him to the side as she walked off. "It'd be a real shame too, if someone killed your other lover in her sleep," she called back without looking. The next moment Aidelia had exited the building, and had disappeared from sight.

Felix kept from flinching when she started poking him in his chest. It was not a pleasant feeling considering he was still recovering from the wound that had saved Kana's life. When Aidelia claimed that he didn't look like one to be in a relationship, he smirked. I am a ladies man, he thought to himself highly amused. When Aidelia brought up the Crested and Serenity, Felix's eyes narrowed. "So the ANBU Captain is a spy as well. Looks like you're willing to throw everyone under the bus." The Shinobi stepped back when she pushed him away. Her last comment made him freeze. "What the hell is that supposed to mean," Felix said following after her, but she was already gone. Felix was praying that she was talking about Kana, who he knew could handle herself, but if that woman was talking about Serenity, he'd completely destroy her. There were things much worse than death. The silver hair immortal rubbed his chest lightly. "I'd better find out what's her deal, and make sure Serenity is safe."

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Deciding that she should get some training done on her own time, Kana left the house an hour early, walking down the street towards the gates. For some reason, Kana always liked training outside of the village she was in. Before she got to the gates, however, Kana spotted the girl that she knew to be Suki, walking down the street, with what looked like far too many bags for the petite girl. Giving a shrug, Kana walked over to her casually. "Hey, need help?" she asked, her head tilted.

Suki blinked, looking at the woman who came up and spoke to her. "Oh, uh...that, that would be nice," she said with a small, slightly embarrassed smile. "Thanks," she said, when the woman took some of the bags from her. "Don't worry about it. My name's Kana," she said, looking at the younger girl. "Oh, um, Suki," the small girl replied. A moment later, Suki spotted Kana's headband. "O-oh, you're a Crested ninja," she stated, her eyes lighting up. "You must be here with Felix," she said with a smile, walking next to the taller woman.

Kana nodded. "You know him?" she asked. Suki nodded. "Yeah, he's a friend. I met him with my best friend's friend at one of our concerts..." Suki paused when she realized how confusing that had sounded. "Or, um, my friend Tara and I do performances at festivals. Felix's girlfriend is Tara's friend, and she took him along one time," Suki clarified. Kana couldn't help but smile. This girl was so awkward that it was actually cute. "I gotcha." Kana took a look down the street. "Felix used to be my sensei, when I was younger. It was a bit of a surprise when we were put on this mission together," Kana said. "He taught you? Then, you must be a good ninja, right? It's funny, I hear a lot of things about Felix," Suki said with a smile.

Kana blinked and looked at Suki. "Like what?" Suki almost looked scared for a minute. "N-n-nothing bad, just things f-from other villages, about what kind of ninja he is." The older ninja raised an eyebrow. "What kind of ninja do others say he is?" she asked. Suki suddenly looked down. "Er. Really strong?" she said, as if she was unsure about what to say. When Kana only looked at her with a skeptical expression, Suki sighed and continued. "There's a lot of talk about how destructive he can be. That he's pretty merciless." Kana chuckled, and Suki looked at her with a puzzled expression. "What?"

The brown haired shinobi shook her head. "Nothing. It's just not all that far from the truth," Kana admitted. Suki gave a light giggle. "I didn't think so. He tries so hard to behave himself though." Kana laughed a little. "Maybe around civilians," she told the younger girl. By this time, they'd arrived at the small hotel that Suki and Tara were staying in. "Hey, why'd you go out so early, if you don't mind my asking?" Kana asked curiously.

"Oh, well, if you wait later in the day to go shopping for produce, most of the good stuff will already be gone," Suki replied happily, putting her bags down to unlock the door. "So...this is all fruits and vegetables?" Kana asked, blinking. Suki looked a little embarrassed as she picked up her bags and went into the hotel room, followed by Kana. "Yeah. Well, that and bread and stuff," she said lightly, her voice quieter. Kana looked at her with her head tilted a bit. Why had Suki suddenly quieted down? "Ah, Tara's still asleep," she said quietly, in response to the unspoken question. "Thank you for your help again, you can just set the bags down there," Suki said, motioning to the wall across from them. When Kana did, she took a pencil and her notebook out of her pocket, writing her number on a piece of the paper and handing it to Suki. "Here. If ya ever need any help or anything," she said kindly. "Any friend of Felix's is a friend of mine." Suki blinked, taking the paper, before smiling. "Thank you."

"No prob. I'll see ya round Suki," Kana replied, giving the younger girl a small wave before exiting the hotel and starting once more towards the gates of the village. She still had plenty of time to train.

(If you ever watch the anime Read or Die, I imagine Suki's voice to be that of Hisa. We're talking English version, not Japanese.)

Felix knew he shouldn't be sneaking off, but he needed Kymin's number, which he had said he wouldn't be using, but now he needed it. Felix sighed and made his way back to the apartment. Picking up the piece of paper off the table, he stuck it in his pocket, and then headed back for the tower. Once there, he sent a text to Kana:Stay on your guard.

He knew she'd probably be irritated because she was 'always on guard.' However, she'd been bitten by a snack trying to protect him, and she'd given all of their information to a possibly spy, which thankfully was on their side. He then texted Kymin:

We need to talk. Meet us at the apartment at 8. It's important.

~FK

Felix looked at the tower. It wouldn't be long before they finished it. Getting back to work, he was edgy as the time passed. It felt like forever. He didn't like being threatened, especially when the person who threatened him, had brought people he cared about into the argument.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

On her way out, Kana heard her phone give a brief ding, indicating she had a text message. Taking her phone out as she went, she raised an eyebrow at what she read. Shaking her head, she decided not to question it for the moment and replied with a simple answer.

Always.

Kymin, on the other hand, had been doing just what he'd said, and laying low. He was in a local pub in which information spread fast. In fact, it was the very same one that he'd taken Kana to for lunch. Sitting at the bar, Kymin was eating a sandwich and listening to the conversations around him. He was a frequent visitor at the place, so nobody really questioned it. When his phone vibrated, he took it out slowly. He never got messages. Looking at it casually, he shrugged and sent a reply.

Felix sighed when he got Kana's text. He'd figured as much, so he wasn't exactly surprised. A few moments later he got a message from Kymin. Good, everything was set up. Let's just hope that Kana plays nice... Felix got back to work, thinking about Aidelia had said. He'd really pissed her off, which was a bad thing, but at least he knew what made her tick, and that very thing could possibly help them avoid a war, he hoped. Felix sighed. Why do I always have to do all the hard work? After this mission, I'm spending the rest of my time with my children.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

(Haha, he has to do all the hard work. He's training the kids and chasing Aidelia. Kana's preparing the village for war. X3)(Time skip, hooooo!!)

By the time seven thirty came around, Kana had finished training the ANBU and was on her way home. She'd ended up telling the jonin and ANBU together that they war was a strong possibility. She'd gotten mixed reactions, and even a few of the ninja seemed legitimately scared about the idea of war. It wasn't a surprise really, but answering all the ninjas concerns had been rather exhausting, and she hadn't exactly had much energy to begin with. With a yawn, Kana walked into the apartment after unlocking the door, going to her room to pull out a fresh outfit. Whether Felix was home or not didn't matter much to her right then. She was getting in the shower, and then going to bed. That was the plan.

Kymin walked down the streets of the Rock silently, and as much in the shadows as he could. Hey, laying low didn't mean he was going to hide indoors. He just couldn't take any missions for the time being. His excuse to the Kage had been that the Sand was getting bold, and he wanted to be here to defend his village if another attack happened. Hell, Felix and Kana might've known about his affiliation, but he sure as hell wasn't going to allow the commander of an army (no matter how weak) to know that he was a spy. Looking at his watch, he decided it would be wise to head towards Felix and Kana's place. He was almost a bit nervous to see her. Had Felix managed to make her understand that he was on their side?

Felix too was on his way home, and a bit edgy to say the least. His attitude had turned sour as he found himself wondering what Aidelia was up to. The woman was one step from becoming the leader, and that was not how Felix planned on things going. He would stop her before the Kage died, but first he needed to make sure everything was set in case they failed. Damn, he wished Kymin hadn't been a spy, the guy would have made for a perfect candidate. Getting home, he opened the door and knocked on Kana's door. "Meeting in the living room," he told her.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Kana turned her head as Felix knocked on her door, telling her there was gonna be a meeting in the living room. She sighed. So much for that shower. And so much for sleep. Walking out of her room, Kana looked at Felix as she plopped down on the couch. "What are we meeting about?" she asked. She sounded positively tired. It didn't really help that she hadn't eaten anything for dinner. When there was a knock on the door, Kana turned her head to look at it a moment before looking at Felix. "Expecting someone?"

Kymin had seen Felix enter his house from down the street, but didn't bother calling for him. He was going to take his time walking down the street, so that he could mentally prepare himself. After a few minutes, Kymin arrived at Felix and Kana's place, and knocked three times on the door.

"You'll see," Felix said as he took a seat on the couch. "I know you're tired, but this is important." He grinned when she asked if he was expecting someone. "Very much indeed." He looked to the door. "It's open." Felix looked to Kana. "You're not too tired for a genjutsu?" He crossed his arms over his chest and looked back to the door, waiting for Kymin to come in.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Kana raised an eyebrow when he said you'll see. She'd see? What would she see? Something told her she wasn't going to like the answer. She gave a bit of a sigh when Felix asked her if she could hold up a genjutsu. "Sure. Just so long as we're not infiltrating anything this time," she told him. "Just what ge-...what's he doing here?" she asked, as Kymin walked in at Felix's response. Suddenly her face went rather blank. She wasn't sure how she should feel about this. Felix had gone through the trouble of convincing her that he was on their side, but she still wasn't sure she believed it. She wanted to know just what the hell his side of the story was. Then maybe she'd consider believing him.

"He's here to help," Felix said. "Anyway, your alternate reality jutsu will do just fine." He stated, as if giving her a hint. The last time they'd used that jutsu was to keep others from knowing of their conversation. It was the safest way of passing information between the two of them without fear of being exposed. However, Felix had plans of his own, plans that did not include Kymin, and so he'd have to speak to the other ninja alone and vice versa. Felix had panned this all out accordingly. Hopefully it would all fall perfectly and everyone would finally be able to go home.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Kana's gaze stayed on Kymin a moment before Felix mentioned her jutsu. She wasn't sure she wanted to use that in front of Kymin. Pursing her lips for a moment, Kana finally sighed. "Ugh, fine. Get over here the both of you," she told them. She sounded fairly irritated. When both Kymin and Felix came over to her, she instructed them to make themselves comfortable wherever (so long as it was sitting or laying, didn't need them falling over after all), before starting her jutsu, pulling the three of them into her editing zone, which was a world very similar to the Blackbird's Lair. Complete with the giant carnivorous blackbirds circling the sky. The King seemed wary of these new visitors and circled a little lower than the rest. Luckily, Kana had fixed that little problem with her thoughts leaking out into the realm, otherwise Felix would have been rather upset with her by this point.

Kymin seemed a bit put on edge by Kana temper. Usually he'd find it cute. But usually he wasn't on her death list. He gave Felix a grateful look when he told Kana that he was there to help. Clearly the silver haired ninja had talked some sense into the brown haired one. Kymin looked visibly confused when Felix mentioned an "alternate reality jutsu". Kana could do that? To be honest, he realized now, he didn't know all that much about her fighting style. Even her nickname in the surrounding areas hadn't made it's way to his ears. Kymin promptly did as Kana instructed, not wanting to make it on her permanent death list. Not that death could ever be permanent for him. When he was in the jutsu, Kymin found his eyes wide and looking around in a mixture of wonder and shock. Was this a genjutsu? He looked at Kana. Had she made this?

Felix took a seat on the floor. He was really getting sick of Kana's suspicions with Kymin. It was her fault for falling for him in the first place. This was not their village. She was being really childish about the entire situation. Felix took a seat on the ground in Kana's world as well. "Let's start by clearing up things on your end Kymin. I've told her all I knew about you, but it's clear she won't listen until you explain as well," Felix said in a dry tone. "That way, we can all be on the same page and get some work done instead of wasting time and fighting each other when our real enemy is one step closer to becoming the Kage."

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Kana stayed silent as Felix started speaking, sitting down on the grass, as one of the hill lizards moved lazily over to her to lay next to her. This world always had been a bit clingy. She liked it that way though. That way when it was used, the creatures would never screw up and attack her. Despite Felix's obvious irritation at her suspicion, Kana kept her gaze on Kymin. She'd rather be overly cautious than too trusting. She'd learned that the hard way. And no matter what Felix said, she wasn't going to trust Kymin again until she could see with her own eyes that he was on their side.

Kymin sighed, stopping halfway through, when he saw a hill move over and stop next to Kana. She'd put her hand lightly on it, as if it were some kind of pet. He was wary about sitting down, but since everyone else was, he also sat. He took a moment to think before speaking. "Listen. I was sent to the Rock as a spy to keep an eye on things here, work my way up the ranks to ensure that no spies from the Rock were in my village. I'd worked with Aidelia personally a couple times, years ago, but she looks different now, so I didn't recognize her, and she changed her name. I knew her as Theresia Yukio. I never thought that she'd change her last name back to her maiden name. Everyone in the Sand assumed she was dead. Ten years ago, she'd left on a group mission, but never came back. We found her team, all dead. We never found her body, but we found bodies of enemy ninja as well. Not too far from her team, we found her headband and a large pool of blood. No one could have survived losing that much blood. We sent team after team out looking for her, but...we never found her." He shook his head with a sigh. "When I found out who she actually was...I changed my mission. She cannot become the Kage of this village. She can't become a leader," he said. "She plans to start a war of her own, with the Sand. Who knows if she'll stop at the Sand. This whole thing is just revenge for her," he said. He looked down. "There's nothing she won't do." He clenched his jaw lightly. "She used to be one hell of a ninja." He sounded almost disappointed. And he was. He didn't know what else to tell them. "I want her out of here more than you can imagine. Right now it's my mission to bring her back to the Sand. Dead or alive," he told them finally, looking at Felix, and then to Kana.

It sounded reasonable enough to him. So her motive was revenge, and she was using the Rock to get it. She picked the wrong damn village. Or maybe she'd picked it strategically. No one would ever suspect the Rock to attack. Felix nearly smirked at her genius. "Why does she want revenge?" He asked. If they could find a way to give her what she wanted, then it would all be good and they could go home. Felix was honestly trying to stay out of war, but he wouldn't let them know that. This was still a second home to him. He may have become an immortal near the Gears, but since Kyla had made this of place of refuge, Felix had followed without complaint, and every since then, this was his place. He didn't want to see it burned to ashes because of some psycho woman.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Kana listened silently as Kymin explained. She understood, of course. He was just doing what any ninja would; their job. But Kana was still too hard-headed to admit that she'd made such a screw-up. To admit that she'd nearly fallen for someone who was only using her. To admit that she'd thought she might've had a chance at something good. After all, who would want her? Love was a waste of time. And she was done with it. Being a ninja was good enough for her.

Kymin paused when Felix asked why she'd wanted revenge. His Kage had given him full permission to grant information to whomever he deemed trustworthy, and these two were on Kymin's list. But he still wasn't sure if he was on theirs. "Her husband was a double agent. He'd been a spy in the Rock, who'd in turn sent him to be a spy in the Sand. After several years, the Sand started realizing that Kanda Yukio was actually feeding real information to the Rock, not the fake information that he'd been instructed to give. Aidelia...no, Theresia, rather, figured out not long after she'd met him that he was a double agent. Or so we figure, anyways. After Yukio was discovered, an airborne virus was released into his home while his wife was away. He fell very ill and died not too long after." Kymin fell silent for a moment. "So, she wants revenge because the Sand killed her husband. And like I said, I don't think she'll stop until she's gotten her revenge, or died trying."

Kana's gaze was on the 'hill' that sat next to her. Revenge? What a petty excuse to gain power, she thought.

Felix nodded when Kymin explained. So, she'd done it to avenge her dead husband. That was understandable. It also explained why she'd been so pissed when he said no one wanted her. "This means we won't be able to negotiate with her." Felix sighed and leaned where he sat. "We have no choice but to kill her. The war will be in three days," Felix started. "Also, we have to watch the Kage. She'll stop this war with his death if she must. Time is suddenly against us." Felix looked at the two of them. "This is what I think we should do. I will remain the Kage's guard for the next few days, there's no way I'm leaving his side. We don't need her making a sneak attack. Kana, you will train the ninja as much as possible. Kymin, you keep staying low. In the mean time, help find someone who will be able to be the next Kage." He gave a slight pause and looked to Kana before looking back to the Sand Ninja. "The current one is dying. He won't last long, and to be honest, he might not make it these next three days, but don't worry, I have that covered." Felix looked at the two of them. "Anything you want to add, a plan, a suggestion, anything?"

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Kymin nodded almost solemnly when Felix mentioned there'd be no negotiating with Aidelia. "Unfortunately," he responded. When the silver haired shinobi told him to find someone that might be able to be Kage, Kymin nodded. "I might have someone for that," he said.

Kana turned her gaze to Kymin at that one. "And just who might that be?"

Despite Kana's criticizing look, Kymin didn't waver this time. "Lacie Tentou." Kana remained silent for a few moments, before turning her gaze to the side. "Good pick..." she muttered reluctantly. Lacie was one of the ANBU that Kana had been training, and there came no better ninja than that woman. She loved her village, was hard-working, and was as strong as they came, both in will and fighting prowess.

At Felix's question, Kana spoke. "We have to keep the news of a war quiet, or at least make it look like we are. We still don't know who's working for Aidelia. Though...I'm sure it wouldn't be too tough to get a few names out of that no good teacher they have at the Academy," she suggested. If Felix knew anything about Kana, it was that she was a fan of 'interrogations'.

Kymin raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think that'd be a bit...well, reckless, given the circumstances?"

Kana merely rolled her eyes. "No. Wars going to be in three days, and if Aidelia finds out about it, that's just going to put more pressure on her. It's not like we're going to kill the guy. After all, we need him alive to tell Aidelia that we got names of the people who're working for her. People who would give her up."

"What if he doesn't know who else is working for her?" Kymin asked.

"Then I'll make him think he does," Kana said simply, then looked to Felix. "What do you think? Do I get to interrogate the guy or not?" she asked. She thought it was a rather well laid out plan, but Kymin didn't seem as convinced. That was too damn bad for him.